About OPI

OPI’s Mission:

To promote and make available education and resources for peace and nonviolent conflict resolution in individual, community, national global and environmental contexts. We seek the widest possible collaboration and cooperation with others to achieve our purpose.

The Board of Directors

Cynthia Fowler

Non-violence is always an option.

Cynthia Fowler

Cynthia Fowler is committed to working for racial equity and justice. Her 15+ years of work as a psychiatrist have prepared her well to work effectively with diverse groups of people to affect change within our systems. The first decade of her professional career was spent working in community mental health where she provided psychiatric care to diverse populations of people with severe mental illness and developmental disabilities and in student health. Her work has shifted over the past few years to a part-time private practice to make room for social justice and volunteer work. Dr Fowler is currently serving as chair of the Health committee of the Portland NAACP, creating anti-racism curricula, serving on the Board of Directors for Right to Health, was recently added to the Board of Directors of the Oregon Peace Institute and volunteers with the SMART program as a reader for kindergarteners. Dr. Fowler earned a B.A. in Psychology from University of Southern California, and an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. If you happen to see her, ask if she’s wearing anything “me-made”. She’s a lover of sewing apparel and endeavors to make her entire wardrobe so she can avoid clothes shopping.

Tom H. Hastings

"Peace starts, happens, builds and continues with nonviolence, never with violence."

Tom H. Hastings

Tom H. Hastings, Ed.D., is Founding Director of Peacevoice, and Coordinator of the undergraduate program in Conflict Resolution at Portland State University. He is a former member of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA), former co-chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Association, former board member of the IPRA Foundation and currently the Oregon Peace Institute, as well as the Academic Advisory Council of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. He has written several books and many articles about nonviolence and other peace and conflict topics. He is a former Plowshares resister, a nonviolence trainer, and a founding member of two Catholic Worker communities.

Alison Allen-Hall

"Humans are smarter than violence"

Alison Allen-Hall

Alison Allen-Hall is a social scientist interested in exploring and realising the potential of the liminal spaces between scholarship and practice. She has several years’ experience serving as associate faculty in Social Sciences at various colleges and universities in the United States. She has most recently expanded her praxes portfolio to include Interpersonal Neurobiology. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she is Managing Director of LynxSE, an organisational equity coaching

Adam Vogal

"I will never be separated from my family – all 7.442+ billion of us."

Adam Vogal

Adam Vogal (Chair) holds an M.S. in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University. As well as being the president of the Oregon Peace Institute, he is also the associate editor of Oregon Peace Institute’s highly effective PeaceVoice program. Adam is also the coordinator of the Portland Peace Team, a nonpartisan group made up of peace professionals who provide de-escalation training and nonviolent security for social justice movements and diverse nonviolence centered groups in the Pacific Northwest. He has also served on the National Council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the oldest peace with justice organization in America, and served as chair of the Oregon Fellowship of Reconciliation. Adam is certified in mediation and negotiation and trains individuals and groups in these skills, as well as nonviolent resistance, de-escalation, bystander intervention, restorative justice, and mindfulness. Adam is also a life and conflict coach for nonprofit organizations and area leaders. When Adam is not working for one of many peace centered organizations, he volunteers with 350pdx.org, Greenpeace, and Hands-on Greater Portland. In his spare time, he prides himself on being a good father to his three sons and a good husband to his amazing wife. Adam also enjoys spending time camping, hiking, and organic gardening.

Paloma Ayala Vela

It is our obligation to disobey all inhumane orders.

Paloma Ayala Vela

Paloma Ayala Vela holds a Masters degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Nova Southeastern University and is a professional graphic designer. She has been actively involved with the organizations SERPAJ-Mexico and the Collectivo Gandhiano Pensar en Voz Alta since the mid 1990s. Her current work is mainly related to the ongoing war on drugs in Mexico. Paloma is the content manager of PeaceVoice’s website. Her involvement in social activism relates to her graphic design skills. She has designed campaigns for whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, displayed around the Pentagon in DC and a traveling exhibition in Mexico about the 43 missing students of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero as well as other graphic work for the organization World Beyond War and many others. She loves the outdoors, hiking and camping are her most favorite activities.

Patrick Hiller

"We are at a stage in human history where we can say with confidence that there are better and more effective alternatives to war and violence."

Patrick Hiller

Patrick Hiller holds a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Nova Southeastern University and a M.A. in Human Geography from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany. He is an adjunct faculty member at the Conflict Resolution Program at Portland State University and director of the War Prevention Initiative of the Jubitz Family Foundation. His published and unpublished writings are almost exclusively related to the analysis of social injustice, most often in the form of structural violence and power dynamics with an emphasis on human dignity, solidarity among all peoples, equal participation of all peoples, the role of the governments and the promotion of peace. Patrick served on the Executive Committee of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association (2012-2016) and is Vice President of the International Peace Research Association Foundation. He was on the Coordinating Committee of World Beyond War, is member of the Advisory Council of the organizations International Cities of Peace and PeaceVoice/PeaceVoiceTV, as well as member of the Peace and Justice Studies Association. In his free time, Patrick enjoys the outdoors and is a committed triathlete. He lives in Hood River, Oregon with his wife and son.